Boss (2 page)

Chapter Three

Hannah was getting ready to walk out to the front of the house when she heard the sound of music playing from the ballroom.

It was a smooth jazz that made her think of her grandfather and romance that had died long ago.

She couldn't stop her curiosity and turned around to go back in that direction.

Peeking into the doors she saw Mr. Maxwell sitting in one of the recliners in front of the fireplace she had spent an hour scrubbing this afternoon.

"Hannah?" He questioned as he spotted her in the doorway.

"I'm sorry, sir. I was just…the music. It's nice," she explained.

"Thank you. Come in. I'd actually like to talk with you a little about something if you have the time."

How could she say no?

"Of course, sir," she came in, and the music was even better inside the grand ballroom with the acoustics of the architecture making each note of the sax louder and bigger than it was anywhere else.

"You've done well for today, Hannah. I'm going to apologize for pushing you so hard in preparation for tomorrow's party. The crowd is very important to me, you see, and it's vital that I make a good impression when they visit."

Nathan straightened the bar and plucked two goblets from the overhead rack.

"I understand, sir, and thank you, but you don't need to apologize to me. Your standards need to be upheld, but I appreciate you realizing that we're all human, and we can only work as quickly as we can."

Hannah watched him as he moved fluidly from one task to the next, choosing a bottle of wine and bringing it to the sitting area.

"Yes, I do need to remember that more often than I do. I'd like you to join me for a glass of wine and talk about a few things. And please call me Nathan. Mr. Maxwell really isn't necessary."

Nathan read the label on the wine and opened it, letting it breathe for a few minutes while he prepared the rest.

Hannah was stunned that he invited her to stay and have a drink with him.

She wondered if it was appropriate to accept and decided that it would be okay since he seemed so genuine in his offer.

"Thank you, Nathan. I'd love to."

Using his first name added a level of comfort to the room and took away a little of the intimidation Hannah felt in being alone with him.

She looked at the invitation as a peace offering between them and a way to get back in the man's good graces after this afternoon.

She needed that.

She needed to keep her job, and to do that she needed to keep Nathan Maxwell happy in every aspect possible.

Nothing could go wrong…

Could it?

Chapter Four

Hannah joined him on the plush couch and waited patiently through her nerves as he poured the glasses.

Nathan could tell she was tense, and he worried that he was making this awkward by inviting her to have a drink with him.

He needed to talk with her though.

Something about this afternoon and the way she had stood up to him had really made him think about things and the way he viewed himself.

It made him think about the way he viewed her too.

He found it immensely attractive that she was willing to put her job on the line to point out what was wrong in a situation.

That took guts on her part, and he admired that.

"If this makes you uncomfortable, you are free to decline," Nathan said as he swirled the wine in one of the goblets and took in the scent in full appreciation of the craftsmanship.

"I'd like to stay." Hannah accepted the glass when he offered it to her with a gentle smile that alluded to something more hidden behind it.

"Good. I'd like to extend an offer to you that you may be interested in taking," Nathan said, reclining in his seat.

Hannah crossed her legs and took a sip, listening intently to what he was saying.

She hadn't expected him to offer her anything… a pink slip maybe but surely nothing else.

And at this point she seemed to have avoided that, thankfully.

"I'm looking for someone to take over cleaning my penthouse in town. You could stay there if you wanted in one of the guest rooms if you didn't want to make the drive every day. I would require you to work at least four days per week, and those days will depend on when I will be using the penthouse versus being here. You would be on your own there quite a bit, so you would need to be a strong self-starter. What do you think?" Nathan looked at her with his brilliant eyes.

"That sounds wonderful, sir. I think that would be fantastic. My only concern is that the reduced number of days would leave me without the income I need to make my payments."

She hated revealing that she was more or less in a paycheck-to-paycheck situation to this stunningly handsome man who had probably been a millionaire since the day he was born.

"That's not an issue. I'll make sure that you still earn the same salary as you would if you were working in the estate. Does that help make things easier?" 

"Yes…” the offer sunk in. “Thank you so much, Mr. Maxwell."

“Nathan.”

“Sorry. Thank you Mr. Nathan.”

She couldn't believe she was going to have the ability to stay in his private penthouse whenever she wanted.

Hannah was sure that he was going to let her go when he invited her for a talk.

She figured he had taken the afternoon to let her little outburst sink in and had decided that she wasn't worth the trouble of trying to keep in line.

This was a pleasant surprise.

"You're welcome. So, now that business is out of the way, how about we talk a little more and get to know one another a bit better?" Nathan suggested.

"What would you like to know?" Hannah was much more relaxed now.

"Tell me about yourself. What do you enjoy? What do you desire from life?"

"Whoa, getting deep very quickly. Okay. Well, I guess I'm a pretty simplistic person. I enjoy good coffee, fine wine and excellent books. I spend a lot of time in the coffee shop under my apartment when I'm not working. I guess I just desire happiness," Hannah blushed. "That's probably silly. What I want is what everyone else seems to want. A life where they have joy in the little things, a family and friends who love them and who can be counted on when life gets hard. Somewhere to call home and something to be proud of."

She gave a little shrug.

She wasn't sure she had explained herself well at all, but looking at Nathan he seemed to be very enthralled in what she was talking about.

"I understand completely. I like literature too and espresso now and then and of course good wine."

He held up the bottle and topped off her glass.

"Since we're getting to know each other, I have something that I've been curious about since I've worked here," Hannah admitted.

"Now I'm curious, too," Nathan leaned in closer.

Hannah laughed.

"You aren't married," she said.

"No, I'm not," Nathan agreed.

Hannah laughed again. "I'm sorry. I just… I guess I assumed you would be. It's just you in this big house, and I thought you would have a family."

"I did for a short time, or close to it. I was engaged to a woman a few years ago, but we parted ways before the wedding took place."

He looked to the distance, envisioning her in his mind.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Well, it works out for the best. Always does. She turned out to be a wretched woman behind all of the parties and charity events." He took a deep breath. "So I find what I need elsewhere these days. What fulfills me," Nathan explained.

"Sorry?" She wasn't sure if she was reading him right.

"Desires."

Oh no…

Chapter Five

Hannah blushed deeply thinking about what Nathan meant when he confidently spoke of his ‘desires.’ His eyes rested on her, slowing examining every part of her soul.

She could imagine him coming up to a woman and flirting with her. He had the charm, the looks, the way of life that would win anyone woman over.

"I have to admit I was quite taken by you when I first met you," Nathan told her as if divulging a secret.

Hannah was stunned.

This man wasn’t short of confidence…

He was taken with her?

As in… he found her attractive and desirable?

Sure she was a gorgeous girl but she was his maid… the man's servant.

She had never dared to think that he would feel that way about her.

"Though I have to admit Hannah, knowing now that you enjoy and thrive upon the simple things in life, I'm not sure I'd be much of a match for you."

Nathan poured more wine into his own glass.

"What do you mean?" Hannah was shocked they were having such a blunt conversation on the subject.

"I tend to indulge in the complex, the abnormal, the deviant some would tend to say. Simple is only good for so long before something more is necessitated by the mind, body and soul. Wouldn't you say?"

Nathan had a look about him that was making her panties wet.

What was it about this darkly mysterious man, who was supposed to be a boring businessman, that was driving her absolutely crazy and dominating her thoughts with sinfully sexy images and downright dirty thoughts that made her flush with desire?

The evening certainly was taking a turn in a direction she hadn't seen when she had been asked to stay with him.

She thought he was going to fire her, but here he was confessing an attraction that to most was a forbidden and taboo thing.

Her boss…

His employee…

His servant…

Her master?

"I want you, Hannah," Nathan admitted in a deep voice barely over a whisper.

It was breathtaking to be told that so openly.

"I want to take you to a place inside of yourself you've never indulged. I want to show you what it's like to explore outside of the simple and the ordinary. I want to give you the gift of the extraordinary, of an intensity of which you've never imagined nor experienced. I want you to be mine, and I want you to take what I give you, and give me what I need in return."

Her body was now on fire with longing.

"What is it that you're offering me, Nathan?" she asked.

It all seemed so much deeper than merely sex, or simply a relationship or even a one-night stand full of heated passion. It sounded like he was offering her so much more than any of that.

"I'm offering you what I know you desire in your heart. Power, a man in control who will take you as you are and ravage you until you can barely speak, someone who will push you to your limits and make you see that simple isn't all. Vanilla, the most basic of flavors, is bland. I'm going to introduce you to a world you never knew existed. But I need you to trust me, and I need you to obey me."

Hannah bit her lip as she listened to him.

Everything inside of her was screaming 'Yes! Take me now!'

But a little voice in the back was hesitant to find out what more there was to be had.

That voice was drowned out by her body as it drove her on.

"I want you to show me," Hannah said slowly.

"Being involved with me isn't as simple as affection, sex and desire. There are expectations, rules, danger on occasion, and often you will be pushed to your limits. I need someone who is strong enough to stand on her own but who is willing to obey my command and submit to my will."

Nathan took a sip from his glass and looked over the rim at Hannah.

Her cheeks seemed to have a pink tint to them, and he wondered if it was embarrassment, arousal or the Italian wine.

If he had his way, he was going to put a lot more color into her cheeks before the night was over.